Softball

Santa Clara Softball Earns First NCAA Tournament Selection In Program History

Broncos will open NCAA Tournament play against No. 13 seed Arizona in the Tucson Regional on Friday

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – The Santa Clara softball team earned its first NCAA Tournament selection in the 46-year history of the program. The Broncos will be in the Tucson Regional and will open postseason play against No. 13 national seed and regional host Arizona on Friday at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Grand Canyon and Ole Miss will also compete in the regional. 
 
Santa Clara captured its first West Coast Conference championship in program history, finishing 11-4 in conference play. The Broncos shared the conference title with Saint Mary’s, and earned the West Coast Conference’s automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament by defeating the Gaels two out of three times in their head-to-head regular season series.
 
Santa Clara completed the regular season 32-20 overall, establishing a program record for wins in a season and conference wins (11). The Broncos have competed in the West Coast Conference since the Conference started sponsoring the sport in 2014.
 
Sophomore Cairah Curran leads the West Coast Conference in batting average, hitting .429 overall on the season. She broke both the program and West Coast Conference record for hits in a season with 78. Curran, who started all 52 regular-season games, recorded seven doubles and five triples, and scored a league-best 49 runs during the regular season. Hope Alley is second on the team in hitting with a .372 batting average on the season. She drove in a conference-best 41 runs. Hannah Edwards owns nine wins with a 2.83 earned run average and 81 strikeouts on the year. She posted four complete games. Cari Ferguson earned eight wins with a West Coast Conference-best 1.92 earned run average and 60 strikeouts in 26 appearances.

Santa Clara has never played Arizona before in program history. The Broncos lost the only meeting against Ole Miss and SCU is 1-6 all-time against Grand Canyon. 
 
Last year, Saint Mary’s represented the West Coast Conference in the NCAA Tournament, competing in the Stanford Regional where the Gaels faced Stanford and Cal State Fullerton.
 
The 64-team field consists of 16 NCAA Regional sites, with each regional hosting a four-team double elimination tournament. The NCAA Regionals will be held this coming Friday through Sunday, May 16-18. The winners of each of the regional sites will compete in the Super Regionals, with eight teams advancing to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.